Riverfront Park crowd gathers in solidarity with Israel after ‘unspeakable form of evil’ from Hamas

Over 100 people hugged, prayed and sang at Riverfront Park’s Rotary Fountain Sunday evening to show support for Israel after last weekend’s “unfathomable” terror attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The surprise incursion into Israel on Oct. 7 has killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to the Associated Press. As of Sunday, in the eight days of Israeli strikes, 2,670 people have been killed and 9,600 wounded in Gaza.

At the downtown gathering, Rabbi Yisroel Hahn, from the Chabad Center of Spokane, spoke about the cruelty of the Hamas attacks.

“The images and videos coming back from Israel is like nothing we’ve ever seen,” Hahn said. “But I urge you to look them up, I urge you to be moved. It’s unfathomable. It’s heart-wrenching. This is a crime not just against Israel, it’s a crime against humanity.”

In an interview after the event, Hahn compared the attacks to 9/11.

“Some are under the impression this is just another round of violence between Israel and the Palestinians – it’s anything but that,” he said. “It’s worse than the attacks on Sept. 11.”

Hahn continued, describing the atrocities against civilians, “ They’ve raped girls, they’ve –” but then paused. “It’s unimaginable cruelty, cruelty that I’ve never heard exists.”

Juliet Barenti, the event organizer , also spoke to the crowd.

“The massacre shows Hamas not at their worst, but as they are every day,” Barenti said. “It explains why there is no peace when it is Palestine after Zionism.”

She introduced U.S. Representative for Washington’s fifth congressional district Cathy McMorris Rodgers. McMorris Rogers spoke against the rise of anti-Semitism around the world.

“The horrific attacks … are an unspeakable form of evil that must be condemned in the strongest of terms,” she said. “The United States of America must lead with moral clarity and be steadfast in our support of Israel.”

Other political representation included Jonathan Bingle, city councilman of Spokane’s first district.

The week prior, Bingle introduced a resolution that condemned Hamas’ attacks against Israel and affirmed that country’s right to “exist and defend itself,” and express support for local residents of both Jewish and Palestinian heritage, according to Spokesman-Review reports.

“I’m proud to say that was a unanimous vote, 7 to 0, in favor of the resolution,” Bingle said, after reading the resolution aloud.

He said he is also proud that the city of Spokane raised the Israeli flag below the American flag on the City Hall, and that the Spokane Pavilion was illuminated in white and blue, the colors of the Israeli flag.

Though the resolution and demonstrations by the city are mere symbols of support, Sandy Altshuler, a Jewish Spokanite, said it felt fabulous to see.

“I went up to Jonathan Bingle and I thanked him profusely,” Altshuler said. “Anyone who thinks those symbols are meaningless doesn’t understand what it’s like to be part of a persecuting people for 5,000 years – they are so meaningful.”

Alshuler spoke at the event alongside Shirley Grossman, whose mother faced religious persecution in Russia.

“I was 6 years old in 1948, when Israel was established as a Jewish state,” Grossman said. “I remember so well my mother crying that there was finally a home where Jews would not be persecuted and kicked out as they have been so often throughout history.”

Grossman broke down and shed tears of her own.

After speaking, the two walked away from the microphone arm-in-arm.